Computacenter hit by huge writ

A former salesman has claimed he is owed damages and commission forhis work on the BT account.

A former Computacenter sales executive is claiming more than #6 million in commission for his work in landing BT, the reseller's biggest customer.

Martin Brooker has issued a High Court writ against his ex-employers, claiming unpaid commission, damages and interest. He also alleges he was wrongfully dismissed in January this year.

Brooker claims that he, and his former colleague David Sibley, are owed a continuing share in the BT account. But at a meeting on November 29 with Computacenter chief executive Mike Norris, Brooker and Sibley were told they were no longer required on the BT supply account. Norris said the contract needed the services of administrators and not sales executives, following a request by Marina Hinchcliffe on behalf of BT.

On December 6 1995, Computacenter confirmed Brooker and Sibley were no longer to be involved on the BT account, and that commission on the account was to cease from the end of December.

Brooker was fired on January 5, the day after sending a letter which asserted his entitlement to commission for the entire BT contract. Computacenter, the writ alleges, wrongfully dismissed Brooker on the grounds he was maintaining his claim to commission entitlement.

Brooker's writ states he joined the company in 1991 on #14,000 wages plus a commission structure typically worth seven per cent of net sales. Shortly after his arrival, Brooker and another colleague began servicing the, then fairly modest, BT account.

But the account shifted up several gears in August 1995 when BT switched its desktop supply contract from ZDS to Computa-center. Brooker estimates the value of the three year contract at between #50 million and #60 million a year. Computacenter is contesting the claim.